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My Encounter with Gun Control Fanatics
We had been seated for only a few minutes at the Grille, the restaurant in our gated community. Suddenly I saw my husband’s eyes open, then roll, as he shook his head in disgust. He was looking behind me, and as I turned around, I saw a couple sitting down at a table for two. Standing in front of their table for all to see was a white sign with the large letters “AR IS FOR WAR.” We live in a 55+ community, so the man was no youngster. His hair was grey, as was his wife’s, and he was wearing a distinctive military cap on his head, although I couldn’t read what it said.
We called our waiter over, who is a very nice young man, and said this was not the place for a political statement. He said he couldn’t do anything, but said he would let the manager know. After several minutes, the manager didn’t appear, so my husband lost his patience and went to fetch her. She told him she didn’t realize it was a political sign. Right. Several minutes later she appeared at the table with the sign, chatted, and left. Nothing else was done.
I could see that my husband was working up a head of steam; neither of us could let go of the couple’s insistence on making what we considered to be an offensive political statement. I finally told my husband that I was going over to see what kind of statement they thought they were making. I saw that the man was a Seabee from his hat, and said my husband was a Vietnam War vet. The conversation went somewhat like this:
Me: What’s your intention in displaying the sign here?
Them: We just returned from the march in Orlando and we’re displaying the sign for the kids. After all the kids were leading the march and needed our support.
Me: Ah, yes, the gun control march; you know that outside organizations are supplying money and coordination for them.
The conversation went downhill from there.
Me: The second amendment allows the right to bear arms.
Them: The second amendment only allows the right to form a militia. And this doesn’t have to do with the second amendment anyway.
Me: You are not well-informed.
Them: Oh, you must watch too much Fox News. How would you feel if someone wore a MAGA hat?
Me: I’d be fine except hats shouldn’t be worn indoors. And a hat is not comparable to a 3’x4’ sign.
Them: The kid in Parkland could have been stopped if he hadn’t had an assault rifle.
Me: Seriously? A person with a pistol and enough scared people could have done the same thing.
Them: I used an assault weapon (really) in the military and people don’t need them.
As I anticipated, we kept interrupting and talking over each other. Our voices were raised a little, but we both confessed we were hard of hearing. I finally walked away in disgust.
Someone may say the discussion was a waste of time. But it wasn’t for me.
I learned a lot. These folks confirmed for me that some gun control folks are uninformed (and these people owned guns); they are governed by emotion (it’s for the kids); they believe the propaganda of the left; they aren’t interested in civil discussion (although I wasn’t very helpful in making that happen).
This exchange gave me the opportunity to stand up not only for truth and the second amendment, but I stood up for me and my husband and everyone who believes in the Constitution. (I was relieved that my husband didn’t join me in the discussion because it would have gotten more vocal.) I also stood up for freedom and for our country.
I plan to write to the restaurant management. They should have a policy regarding this kind of behavior. In these times, it could happen again. The next time I may not be so nice.
Published in Politics
This pastors of the church we attended until last week certainly fit this, except that they do not own guns, so their level of ignorance is even higher. They read only mainstream propaganda and repeat it without any critical thinking or independent research. A couple of other [now former] church attendees have attempted to educate them on guns, but they have resisted all efforts.
When using their official position to promote Saturday’s gun control rally, they demonstrated their ignorance by describing all semi-automatic “assault rifles” as “weapons of war” with “no other purpose than to fire as many bullets as possible and indiscriminately kill anything they are pointed at with terrifying speed.” They also supported the demand that large capacity magazines be outlawed with no consideration for the fact that such capacity limits have much more effect on people defending themselves than on assaulters who can plan and bring multiple weapons or have easier access to multiple magazines.
[Their advocacy of the gun control rally (which I call an anti-civil rights march) was the final straw in the growing bundle of political positions they advocate from the pulpit that caused us to decide to stop attending.]
Don’t bet on it. Typical conversation with gun control proponent starts with a sentence like “I am a gun owner but…”, “I have a shotgun but….” (Biden said they are ok), “I used assault rifles in the military but…., “I actually support the 2nd ammendment, but…” My experience is most of that breaks down under a few questions and it becomes obvious they only preface their position that way to try and seem more reasonable and/or less threatening.
Sounds as if they should lose their tax-exempt status . . .
We had a lot of these “but-monkies” send letters to our local newspaper. I hope my letter (which was printed) blew their candy-*ss*s away.
I suspect they enlisted but never ‘served.’
Like, and will probably borrow from time to time. Thank you good sir.
I was following a Prius into town one day, and it was loaded with liberal bumper stickers like the car above. But the very unexpected bumper sticker right under the license plate read:
“If I am driving slowly, pls be careful. It means I am re-loading.”
I’m so sorry to hear that, FST. I expect spiritual leaders to separate politics and the pulpit. So irresponsible.
I’m not sure you who mean here. Are you saying this is me?
I truly wonder if engaging in even the sweetest conversation with a stranger who is bothering you, including the words “you are not well-informed,” is ever going to be helpful. I think Susan’s letter to the restaurant management was very good. Also, she took her concerns to the management staff on duty. Those are her choices to make. Are you implying that saying nothing in this situation is equivalent to “trying to enhance the ability of the Lordly Class to oppress the people?”
You can always say, “I’d rather get my information from Fox than MSNBC.”
Try doing that with right wing type bumper stickers and you’ll never get out the parking lot alive. Not kidding!
I believe it is Andrew Klavan who says that in any sentence structured as those you have quoted, ignore everything prior to the “but,” as it is irrelevant to what comes after.
Not at all.
I can’t answer your question, @kimk. I don’t know that I was trying to be helpful to them with any of my comments. I simply was not going to let them go undisturbed. You may feel that is not a battle worth fighting, and that’s your choice. As I said, I intended to speak what was true for me, and that included calling them on their lack of information, so I “helped myself” by speaking out. I suspect others discreetly saw me approach their table, and if anyone watched, they knew I was unhappy. Since most people are unwilling to “cause a fuss” which is their reason for not speaking up in any situation, they may actually have been relieved to see someone else do so. Regardless, I’d do it again.
I’ve not been military.
Do any military people get issued semi-automatic rifles other than snipers?
No, not at all. Not even in my darkest thoughts do I suspect that is you.
You mean NON-semi-auto (bolt action)?
All do. Except I had to take one of my Marines off of guard duty because he had told a military doc that he wanted to kill me. I never issued that Devil Dog a weapon of any sort again after the doctor called me to explain.
That’ll have exactly zero impact.
Yep. I had one lonely NRA sticker on my car. Not even a full bumper sticker. Parked that car in an underground 24/7 “guarded” parking lot and when I went to get my car it had been keyed from stem to stern and the NRA sticker had been scraped off and was lying in defeat on the parking lot’s floor.
FYI: This happened probably 4 years ago.
I’d say they’d key your car, but I’m not sure they could get to it.
I think snipers mostly use bolt-action.
Or what I like to call “random acts of education.” I do it too, but it is not always pretty. Apparently left-wingers do not like to be bombarded with facts. Seems to upset them something fierce.
took the words right out of my mouth
Wonderful comments, everyone! It occurs to me that it’s tough for some of us to decide when to speak up and when to let things go. I admit that’s true for me sometimes. I don’t want to go to battle with every fool who shows up with a sign or banner. I’m curious about whether others have been in situation when someone crossed a line and you had to speak up, when other times you might just say meh. I rarely pick fights, and if I thought I was in danger I certainly wouldn’t. Any thoughts on this?
They got to it in Madrid, Spain. Not kidding.
Embrace the danger. Not doing so is what they are counting on.
Thanks, @ST. It’s good to know that others see this kind of act as wise. I love your “random acts of education!” I think I have to get my facts lined up in advance a little better; their lack of knowledge is fairly predictable.
for example, the pair that you accosted thought they were protected (like by a shield) by their stupid sign. you got inside of their protective walls. well done lass.